Paul Lambert tonight hailed an impressive all-round team performance as Wolves produced a clinical display to defeat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
It was the two wingmen who provided the firepower, Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro with a goal in each half to secure a 2-0 victory, Wolves second in the last three away games.
Every player contributed to an excellent result to send Wolves into the home double-header over Christmas in positive mood.
“I thought we were excellent today and we dominated the ball,” said Lambert.
“The only criticism I had was that in the first half we weren’t penetrating enough with that front three that we have got.
“We were passing the ball around really well and then the first real attack we had saw a great goal from Helder.
“That is what I said at half time because we were dominating the ball and just needed to be a bit more intense with it to get it in the back of the net.
“And then in the second half we were terrific.
"We have had a lot of games lately and had travelled to Cardiff in the week so it was a big compliment to the team to play so well today.
“We look a threat going forward and that front three of Dicko, Costa and Cavaleiro have got great pace and are three big players for us.
“When they get going we are difficult to stop.
“We also looked comfortable at the back, Price came in and dominated the ball for us and I think the whole team in general was excellent.”
Bright Enobakhare came into the starting line-up and also contributed well in linking up with the front three, whilst Connor Ronan was handed his senior debut as a late substitute.
“I was delighted with the two young lads as well,” added Lambert.
“Bright has played for me before but he came back in and did really well.
“He is a young kid but he has so much talent and he is exciting.
“Connor came on for his debut and did great – he is going to be a terrific player.
“There are some big plusses from today’s game and some really good signs.
“We’ve got nine days until the next game so it was good to get a win.
“We’ve been playing well, the only half I was disappointed with was the second half at Cardiff.
“Other than that we have always been in games.
“We have come here against a team that was on a little but of a roll lately so to get the win was excellent.
“We are starting to unearth one or two things now and you can see things are happening and we are trying to take steps forward.
“I am not saying we are going to do everything great in such a short space of time but the main thing is that we can make some progress.”
Lambert was also delighted with the form of his two goalscorers and believes the more they settle and adapt to life in the Sky Bet Championship, they can get even better and be a regular potent threat.
“Cavaleiro was a real threat,” he said.
“I have said before that sometimes you pay big money for someone and people think he can come in and hit the ground running.
“It is never that easy and, especially for a foreign player, it might take a little bit of time.
“I was a foreign player myself, and I was fortunate to walk into a team full of world class stars and I had a little time to adjust.
“Cavaleiro is starting to find his feet now like Costa has done.
“It was a great first goal from Helder – he’s got great feet as he has shown in other games like QPR as well.
“And when he can get going and get a run at players he is a real threat.
“I think we just need to find a balanced squad and that will help everyone.”
Lambert, who also praised the solid performance of Conor Coady at right back after deciding to give Dominic Iorfa a break, was also thrilled with the support of the 2,000 travelling Wolves contingent.
It included a first airing in his tenure of the Icelandic Viking Clap at full time, led by Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.
“I’d pay the admission money alone to see Bodvarsson do that every week – it was great to see,” said the Head Coach.
“I’ve said before we need to get that going with the fans, just as we saw against Fulham.
“That is what can happen if we are successful.”
